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Deception T
Rabbi Reuven Mann
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WWW.MESORA.ORG
NOV. 12, 2021
his week’s Parsha, VaYetzei, describes the stormy odyssey of our third and final Patriarch, Yaakov. His life was saved by his mother, Rivka, who divined with her prophetic spirit that her older son had decided to wait for the death of Yitzchak, and then execute his younger sibling. However, she chose not to inform Yitzchak of Eisav’s plans. She very shrewdly, utilized the need of Yaakov, to find an appropriate Shiduch (match) as the basis for the idea, that he should travel to the house of her brother, Lavan, and seek a wife from among his daughters. Yitzchak acceded to this initiative, and sent Yaakov–with blessings–to the house of Lavan. Initially, things went well for Yaakov, in his encounter with Lavan, who provided hospitality to his nephew. When Lavan informed him that he wanted to compensate him–for the work of shepherding his animals–Yaakov, saw an opportunity to secure a marriage with the woman he loved, Rachel. Yaakov was extremely generous in his offer. Being as precise as he could, he said, “l will work for you for seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter.” And Lavan was equally explicit in his response. “It is better for me to give her to you, than to give her to another man. Stay with me.” It seems that seven years of wages is a long time and a high price to pay for a marriage. But Yaakov didn't look at it that way. “Yaakov worked seven years for Rachel, and they
seemed to like him a few days, because of his love for her.” In other words, this felt like a small price to pay, for a woman of such superlative qualities. We learn from this, that if one has an opportunity for a great Shiduch, but obtaining it will require an enormous amount of capital, he should not be deterred. That is what money was made for! But, in spite of Yaakov’s best efforts, things did not go as planned. The time came for the wedding, and Lavan made all the arrangements. Yaakov entered the Chuppah (wedding canopy), believing he was marrying Rachel; but, “When morning came behold it was Leah.” The darkness of the tent, and the extreme modesty practiced by these righteous individuals, prevented this crucial discovery from being made, until the light of day. Yaakov, expressed his severe disappointment to Lavan, saying, “Was it not for Rachel that I worked for you? Why have you deceived me?” Lavan, didn’t skip a beat and had a ready retort; “It is not done that way in this place, to give the younger before the older. Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other one too, for the work which you will perform for me, yet another seven years.” With great smoothness and deception, Lavan had been able to achieve his objectives. He secured a great husband for his older daughter, and obtained fourteen years of honest labor, from his trusted nephew; in exchange for his younger child. Of course, this entailed the blatant cheating of Yaakov, with whom he had made a clear-cut agreement. But Lavan, could comfort himself with the assurance that he really had no choice; because, “that is not done in this place…” After all, one must respect the Minhag HaMakom (“custom of the place”). It should be noted that Yaakov only voiced his anger to Lavan. One wonders, why he said nothing to Leah. After all, it was she who directly participated in the deception, by pretending to be Rachel. This would certainly seem to be valid grounds for divorce. Yet Yaakov, neither divorced nor rebuked Leah. He simply adjusted to the new reality, and moved on. The matter never came up again. (CONT. ON NEXT PAGE)
